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North Ogden • Dawn Miera knew her 16-year-old daughter had not run away.
"I let people convince me [she had run away], that's how I got through the last month and a half," Miera said of her daughter, Alexis Rasmussen, whose body was discovered last week buried near Interstate 84 in Morgan County.
Surrounded by family members and her LDS bishop, Miera on Wednesday said she is still struggling to cope with her daughter's death, possibly at the hands of Eric and Dea Millerberg, who are being investigated in what now appears to be a homicide.
Alexis was reported missing after she didn't return home from baby-sitting for the Millerbergs at their North Ogden home the night of Sept. 10.
On Oct. 18, police — directed by a confidential source — found the girl's body near a road along the Weber River.
On Wednesday, Dea Millerberg's defense attorney said he expects homicide charges to be filed against his client and her husband in a month.
Miera said of Dea Millerberg: "My biggest mistake was probably expecting her to be like me or like the moms I know. ... I had no idea that [the Millerbergs] would be capable of doing anything like this."
Miera said she never met Eric Millerberg prior to her daughter's disappearance. But if she had, that might have been a sign for her, she told news reporters.
The mother of three said she suspected the Millerbergs only after meeting Eric one evening after the disappearance when she went to their North Ogden home.
"I had the most horrible feeling in the world," she added, declining to elaborate.
She also recalled running into Dea Millerberg at a store two weeks after Alexis disappeared. Millerberg didn't ask a single question about the missing girl, Miera said.
Asked about the Millerbergs being named persons of interest in the case, Miera said, "It makes me sick to my stomach."
Miera said that over the course of her daughter's disappearance, she had a lot of bad thoughts and feelings about what could have happened to her daughter. "I really don't want to say because one of them may actually be a reality. It may actually be what happened," Miera said.
Alexis' family organized Wednesday's gathering, they said, to thank the community for their prayers and support, and for their help in trying to find Alexis while she was missing.
Family members described "Lexi" as a funny, vivacious and brilliant — a quick-witted force in their family.
She was "as smart as she was beautiful," Miera said.
Deidre Axelsen said of her niece: "You keep expecting her to walk through the door any minute. She was such integral part of our family ... She was always the center of attention."
Miera said her daughter wanted to become a nurse.
"She could drive you crazy and have you laughing at the same time," Miera said. "She was a look-at-me girl — here I am! People would follow her and listen to her."
Miera said she was surprised at how many people who didn't know her family could relate to her plight.
Alexis' funeral is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at the North Ogden Stake Center, 626 E. and 2600 North, in North Ogden.
Fundraiser for Alexis Rasmussen
P There will be a fundraiser for the family of Alexis Rasmussen from 6-9 p.m. Nov. 1 at the Marriott Hotel, Grand Ballroom, 247 24th St., Ogden.
Dinner is $10 and there will be a silent auction and baked goods sale.